BulletStorm - Game of the Year

Right... maybe if RockStar put their name on it.

It's hard to find a good starting point when talking about Bulletstorm.  I feel like for everything I enjoyed in it, there is something that needs improved.  It was a very enjoyable experience, albeit one that felt a little on the short side, but one I don't regret.  I guess the standard Bullet (Storm.. haha... ugh..) list should suffice.

Good: A Fresh Approach to the Basics (in three parts)

In the times we live in it seems like first person shooters are a dime a dozen, and the quality of most reflects that.  Even the best made and most successful releases at some point just feel like rehashings of older stuff (Halo, anyone?).  Bulletstorm has really done a nice job trying to steer away from this seemingly inevitable trend.  Adding in the pull and kick mechanic of the leash (which really allows you to get crazy with your actions) breaks up the monotony of running around and shooting things in the head... now you get to kick them first. 

In addition to the leash mechanics, Epic added in a scoring system.  This feels a little bit tacked on, but it works well enough.  Scoring adds to the replay value (if you're into that sort of thing) because it becomes a challenge to try and beat buddy's scores, or just see what new you can do.  It ranks the style of your kills based on what you did to achieve it.  There is also a master list of all the different ways you can earn points by manipulating the bodies of your enemies, so if you get lost or feel like you are doing the same thing over and over, you know how to mix it up.   At the end of the day, I don't find myself caring about the scoring system, but I think that's mainly because everyone ends up beating my scores on games in the end. The scoring, however, does get visually represented on the screen, which is nice.  A regular kill will only pop up one little point value, but if you throw a room of dudes up in the air, then use your grenade launcher to detonate a bomb in the middle of all of them, the points will roll in, and it's a very rewarding sight to have your screen fill up with the points for the variations you've done.

The weapons also add to this fresh approach.  The weapons are fairly unique as is, but the addition of a secondary fire function on all of them really makes it fun.  The secondary fire is also different for every weapon - the pistol turns into something like a flare gun, the shotgun (which already has 4 barrels by the way), shoots a flaming mess about the map, and the sniper rifle turns into an active, controllable, directionally capable grenade.  Using these secondary functions in conjunction with the leash is where it really gets interesting, and where the huge points really start rolling in, which is important - the points you accumulate are also what you use to buy ammo, charged shots for your secondary, upgrades to your leash, etc.  Earning bigger points doesn't just earn you bragging rights, but gives you the ability to unlock the uber fun guns, which is ultimately why you bought the game, right?

Bad: The Language
I'm no stranger to a potty mouth.  I've got one myself from time to time. I've watched the angry video game nerd.  I've played Halo with 3N3MY.  But nothing compares to the way these guys (and girl) just let it flow out of them.  I'll give any character the chance to become likable to me by the end of the game, but it was a real chore giving these guys the benefit of the doubt when they seem to be using the F-Bomb every other word.  There is a language filter, but it really doesn't help.  The general attitude and demeanor of the dialogue still comes through, and some of it isn't different dialogue, just censored with a good old fashioned "bleep".  The sad thing about it to me, is that some of the jokes and in game moments of the game are hilarious, and would be even funnier with a well placed F-Bomb, but the game is so indiscriminate on what warrants the foul language that it would be missed anyways.

Bad: A Narrow Experience
As much as Bulletstorm tries to break away from the norm by making a unique title, it ultimately feels like a very narrow experience.  There isn't a coop campaign mode, and the multiplayer online is only a coop mode similar to horde mode (big surprise...)  Every game has this issue to a degree - how do you make the multiplayer feel different from the campaign when it controls the exact same?  How will coop campaign feel any different from a single player experience? Will it stay balanced? 

I think the team behind Bulletstorm made the right choice to omit the stuff they did (like a true multiplayer) but they didn't really try to find anyway to add to the experience past the campaign.  Even the challenge room modes (called Echoes) are just portions of the campaign levels with a timer.  Give me something else, please... let me use different guns that I couldn't use in the campaign, or give me power ups, or the challenge of only using one type of gun.  Bulletstorm's gameplay mechanics have an incredible amount of depth and nuance, but the overall experience does not.

Ridiculous: The Story and Characters
I'm not entirely sure anyone at Epic games actually knows what an emotion is, and I wish they would stop trying to put them into their games.  Everything in this world (not unlike Gears of War, big surprise) is HUGE, and MASSIVE, and ANGRY, and VIOLENT... when everything is that over the top, regular human emotion becomes unbelievable because it doesn't fit.  The makers try to make us feel for the main character, Grayson Hunt, but he just comes off through the whole campaign as a stupid douchebag, so it becomes hard to empathize with his redemptive struggle... unless of course in real life you actually are a stupid douchebag.  Maybe I'm just not in the right demographic.

The Verdict:
I liked it.  It was fun.  I enjoy the coop mode a great deal.  At the time of writing I have the best scores for all the Echo maps so far (I'm pretty sure Carpartz is the only one who played any others), and I look forward to getting better as a teammate in the horde mode.  It's too easy and not rewarding enough to only get the little kills... working together to chalk up the big points as a team is where it's at.  Give it a shot if you want something fresh and over-the-top, or something to give you a break from Call of Duty.  Unless Call of Duty released that patch where you get a gun that's essentially a giant, flying drill, then by all means, continue.